February 19th, 2010

  LDCSB Marks the Beginning of Lent

Students across the LDCSB marked the start of Lent this week, with Ash Wednesday services. In his Lenten message, Pope Benedict XVI took up the theme of justice, saying that he wants people this Lenten season to reflect on what justice really means for human beings. "The Christian is moved to contribute to creating just societies where all receive what is necessary to live according to the dignity proper to the human person and where justice is enlivened by love," he said.

Students at St. George Catholic School celebrated the burning of the palms in preparation for  Ash Wednesday Mass. Staff and students brought in palms from last year's Palm Sunday Mass and Fr. Francis led the brief ceremony. (Below) The ashes were used to mark the foreheads of those attending the Ash Wednesday Mass  at St. George Church.

Lenten Websites

http://www.americancatholic.org/features/default.aspx?id=21
http://www.devp.org/devpme/ENG/sharelent/sharelent-eng.html http://www.wcr.ab.ca/news/2009/0216/fast021609.shtml http://www.catholicregister.org/content/view/2756/858/ http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/Lent/ http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/Lent/ http://www.catholic.org/clife/lent/faq.php http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09152a.htm http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/Lent/siteindex.html http://www.lenten-season.com/

Blessed Sacrament School 
Celebrates its Own Olympian!

Blessed Sacrament students celebrated former "bear" Drew Doughty this week, wishing him well in the Olympics. The NHLer is a defenseman with Canada's Men's Hockey Team.  The school had an Olympic assembly Tuesday to celebrate Drew's accomplishments. (Left)  Drew attended Blessed Sacrament and graduated in 2003.

On February 1 the new Keeping Our Kids Safe at School Act (Bill 157) came into force. This legislation supports the London District Catholic School Board's belief that all members of our school community - staff, students, parents, and community agencies - have a role to play in making our schools a safe place in which to learn.

Find out what's being done to keep our kids safe and what parents should know.  Click on the Bulletin Board on the LDCSB front page.

Schools across the LDCSB have been busy collecting money to help the earthquake victims in Haiti. To date they have raised more than 60-thousand dollars and the total continues to climb.  If you want to help, donations are being collected by a number of relief agencies, including the Red Cross and  the Catholic charities:  
Development and Peace 
and 
Free  the Children

Celebrating Those Who Have Made a Difference!

This will be the sixth year of an initiative to profile London District Catholic School Board Graduates who live the Ontario Catholic Graduate Expectations. Those selected must be secondary school graduates of the London District Catholic School Board or its predecessor Boards. They must demonstrate impact in professional and/or personal life in the following areas: spiritual, academic, aesthetic, social, or physical; demonstrate fulfillment of the Ontario Catholic Graduate Expectations; and demonstrate stewardship in Catholic Education. Nominators must complete a nomination form, signed by the nominee and submitted to John Boles at the Catholic Education Centre by February 28th, 2010. (Printable nominations forms are available HERE).

There is a limit of one nomination per nominator. A Selection Committee will review all nominations and make a final decision based on the criteria. The graduate (s) will be profiled in Spotlight, on the Board Website and during Education Week. This is your opportunity to publicly honour someone you know who has made a difference in the world around them!

Our Mission

To serve the Catholic student in a community that nurtures a living faith and provides a quality Catholic education that enables the 
individual to become a contributing member of the Church and Society.

 

For feedback, submissions, suggestions and input, please contact:

j.boles@office.ldcsb.on.ca

or contact: John Boles, 
Manager of Communications,
519-663-2088, ext 40015

Spotlight is produced weekly by the 
Communications Department of the LDCSB.

    Spotlight is a BRAVO Award winner for demonstrated excellence, recognized by the Canadian Association of Communicators in Education and a winner of the Glorya Nanne Award from the Ontario Association of Parents in Catholic Education for making a substantial contribution to fostering better understanding of Catholic Education.